Svetavastra opened his eyes, the blindfold around them blocked his sight. Dim light seeped through the fabric, hinting at the late afternoon, but the throbbing ache in his head pulled his focus inward. Memories, jagged and sharp, lingered from earlier.

These memories within me, Svetavastra thought to himself weary from the onslaught of the memories he had received all of a sudden. I need to cultivate at some opportune time to absorb them properly. I may get more and more of memories back now that my chakras are getting aligned and balanced.

“Are you alright?" The soft, familiar voice of Cosmic Svetavastra reached his ears. She crouched beside him.

"No-god God," wailed the preta in the bracer. "What is happening to you recently? Why are you getting so weak?"

"I am alright," said Svetavastra standing up, he rubbed his hand on his temple. The headache still remained. "I'm just processing the memories I recovered through the Divine Sword. I would probably be recovering memories in greater frequency now."

"Let’s head back to Manu,” said Svetavastra looking at the sky.

When they reached the clearing where Manu was waiting, Manu was seated beneath the shade of a large tree, his attention fixed on a large parchment spread across his lap. His hand moved with deliberate care, drawing lines of what seemed like a map with a quill. Beside him on a low hanging branch, a regal falcon stood tall, its sharp, golden eyes following Manu’s every motion as though it, too, were part of the map Manu was unfolding on the parchment.

A divine falcon? Svetavastra thought.

While he couldn’t see the falcon because of the blindfold, his mind’s eye picked up the divine aura of the bird. The bird in question looked up towards Svetavastra at the very moment. Recognition hit its eyes and it took flight, its powerful wings cutting through the air with a rush of sound towards Svetavastra landing on the latter’s shoulders.

The bird’s head tilted to have a better look at Svetavastra. It nuzzled his head against Svetavastra’s cheeks as if greeting an old friend. Svetavastra hesitated for a moment, then raised his hand to stroke the bird’s head and its sleek feathers. As his fingers brushed against the falcon’s plumage, a surge of warmth passed into him and along with it some memories. By now, Svetavastra got a hang of how to regulate any incoming new memories and he tucked them away in his mind to absorb them later.

I know this falcon, He thought to himself.

“No-god God!” said the preta in the bracer. “I know this falcon! You have met it before when you were in the form of the little girl. There was a monk too. I think the falcon belonged to the monk. They had come to warn you about the barrier to Swarga-loka being sealed.”

“I see,” said Svetavastra rubbing his chin with his hand. Who is this monk? I’ll think about this later, first I need to get info about Raktabija from Manu.

By this time, cosmic Svetavastra made her way to Manu and greeted him.

“Manu!” She said excited. “We missed you!”

Manu put the quill aside, folded the map and got up.

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“Cosmic Sveta,” Manu said with a smile. “Glad to see both of you back.”

“Hello Manu,” said Svetavastra making his way to Manu. This was probably the first time he was meeting Manu with his blindfold around his eyes. He could see the silhouette of Manu with his mind’s eye. He was somewhat grateful for the blindfold, otherwise, he would have felt too embarrassed to face Manu after what had happened earlier.

"Sveta!" Manu beamed at Svetavastra with a warm smile looking at him. “Happy to see you again.”

Svetavastra heard the warmth and sweetness in Manu’s voice and immediately a blush crept up his cheeks. Aargh! This sacral chakra! Svetavastra mentally face-palmed himself. I just hope the blindfold hides my flushed cheeks.

"Apologies for taking off unexpectedly back then," said Svetavastra. "Our sacral chakras are imbalanced so I needed to fix that before things got out of hand.”

“Of course,” said Manu. “Were you able to fix it?”

"Not completely," said Svetavastra. "There was some obstacle but we're good for the time being. Who's this falcon?”

"That's Shyena," said Manu with a smile. "He's a mythical beast. And you are one of his most favourite people."

“I see,” said Svetavastra nuzzling the falcon’s head. “I seem to have some memories with Shyena.”

“Yes,” said Manu. “He’s a reconnaissance expert of Swarga-loka among other things. He gave you critical intel in many battles.”

“Ohh,” said Svetavastra surprised.

“Thank you, Shyena,” he said to the bird.

“He’s grateful to you,” said Manu, “you’ve saved his life a couple of times.”

“Really?” said Svetavastra. “I didn’t think divine birds were in danger of losing their lives.”

Manu shrugged. “When times are difficult, everyone’s in danger.”

“You seem to know a lot,” commented Svetavastra. “It’s as if you’ve seen all of this.”

Manu was silent.

“You are an immortal too, aren’t you?” asked Svetavastra.

“Yes and no,” said Manu.

Svetavastra was silent waiting for him to continue.

“This body of mine is that of a mortal’s,” said Manu. “But originally, yes, I belong to Swarga-loka.”

“Hmm,” said Svetavastra. It wasn’t surprising since Manu was sent by the Swarga-loka to aid him in the mission to break the sealed barrier to Swarga-loka and thwart the spread of darkness and invasion of the demon army on Bhu-loka. But something didn’t add up.

“You descended from Swarga-loka when the barrier is sealed?” asked Svetavastra

“Yes and no,” said Manu. “My original body is still in Swarga-loka, it is just that I transferred my consciousness into this mortal body so that I could help you.”

“Ohh,” said Svetavastra. “Hmm…help me with Raktabija then.”

“Of course,” Manu smiled. “Here, take a look at this.”

Manu showed Svetavastra the map he had been drawing earlier.

“It’s a map of where the demon army is at the moment. Shyena has been spying on them.”

"Since when?" asked Svetavastra surprised.

"Since the beginning," said Manu. "He's been on this mission for some time now, but it was difficult for him to get close to the demon army without being noticed that's why it took so long. I didn't want to give you any false hopes hence I waited till he returned."

"I see," said Svetavastra nodding his head.

"Can you see the map?" Manu asked as he wondered about Svetavastra’s blindfold.

Svetavastra picked up the parchment from Manu and looked at it. He wondered why Manu didn't ask him to remove the blindfold. Maybe he knew the spiritual cost of such simple acts. The physical body must be accustomed to a certain way for some spiritual powers to work. Since the base of Svetavastra's spiritual powers was that of Irawati, the blind old woman, Svetavastra did not want to unnecessarily remove the blindfold. He could, however, make out the markings on the parchment with his mind's eye.

"The demon army is splitting into multiple factions?!” Svetavastra said, his brows furrowed at this news.

"Yes, Sheyana has been tracking their movements,” said Manu, his face serious with concern. "This could be Raktabija's tactics. He may want to spread the darkness further in all directions. It could also be a diversion tactic to confuse us and keep us guessing. But I think his primary goal is to get your weapons."

"Why does he need my weapons?" said Svetavastra.